In this blog I will be giving my political opinions on both issues at home and abroad.
I will also focus on the issues that affect the people of Ipswich and in particular those who live in Rushmere Ward.
I will also try and give an insight to how I will be campaigning in Rushmere and Ipswich as we fight against the savage cuts imposed by this Tory Government

Sunday, 11 October 2015

My week ahead, 12 - 17 October 2015

Monday 12 October,
4pm – Culture Portfolio meeting

6pm – Labour
campaigning

Tuesday 13 October,
5pm – Early Warning Group

Wednesday 14
October, 5pm – Housing Working Group

Saturday 17
October, 10am – Labour campaigning in East Ipswich

My first meeting as a substitute of the Housing Working
Group this week, I have a big interest in housing – and know we have a major
issue with the lack of housing in this country. Of course the Tories and Mr
Cameron are going to solve it! Starter homes for £250,000!! The only people
happy about that will be the house builders and developers who will make even
more money, but who can afford quarter of a million for a starter home? My two
daughters are both trying to get on the housing ladder , my oldest has a house
in Ipswich with a mortgage but my youngest who is a teacher in London struggles
just to pay the rent on a one bedroom flat – and she is a lucky one as she has
a job.

The Tories just don’t understand the issues that concern
residents – we were hoping to help over 2,000 families in Ipswich with their
fuel bills by installing solar panels on their council homes (and do our bit to
help save the planet) but the Tories pulled the rug from underneath us with the
cuts to the feed in tariffs. More
concerning was that Ben Gummer and Tory leader Nadia Cenci both agreed with the
Government decision that has seen these residents lose the chance to get solar
panels.

With his re-election Mr Gummer seems to have become even more
distant from his constituents, we cant all afford two homes – one in London and
one in Ipswich (if he has a home in Ipswich?) subsidised by the taxpayer. Those
solar panels could have helped residents with their fuel bills and made life a
bit easier for them. People are struggling and any help we can give them we
should. Bus as the Ipswich Tory leader indicated this weekend that she does not
believe there is any poverty in the UK it is no surprise that they are not
bothered about helping others.

4 comments:

@stokeparkcllr
said...

But what you fail to point out, is that we have ALL residents in mind, not just council tenants or profit for council, because it's the rest of the people who pay for these subsidies through their own bills. The solar take up was good and always known not to be sustainable so unfair for rest of us to pay. I could've had solar panels fitted, my hubby actually can do it himself as he is trained, but I refused out of principle. I don't think it's fair to everyone, only the few.

I don't believe in man made climate change, as you know, and happy to admit it. The sun is the main reason for climate change, as Pers Corbyn, Jeremy's brother would be pleased to show evidence of to support that theory.And I believe only in relative poverty, which will always exist because the ones with the least can always be compared to the ones who have the most, or even the average. Real poverty is a rare thing in this country and Left rhetoric just loves to disagree with this.Problems do arise when people find their circumstances have changed but we always look after families and what I saw as poverty A few decades back - no car, no fridge, no new clothes, no new shoes, no phone, no central heating is what I will compare real poverty with.

Er... Nadia... I don't think anyone doubts that the sun causes climate change. The entire theory is based on CO2 and other greenhouse gases trapping the sun's radiation within the atmosphere and heating the planet slowly.

Climate change is not related to weather, which is what climate change deniers appear to believe. It is related to the climate of the entire planet - and as changes speed up, as the climate changes faster than it ever did in the past, it is clear that it is the impact of human beings on the planet.

It really is very simple. As the population of the human beings on this planet has exploded, so has our effect on the environment around us. We've upset that delicate balance and we're seriously damaging that environment. I'm afraid those who believe otherwise will be considered cranks, just like those who believed they could live without technology, or the idiots who argue that we can do without modern farming methods without reducing our global population.

About Me

I am 55 and married with two children, I stood for the Labour Party in the Rushmere Ward in Ipswich at 2006 and 2007 local elections and then won it for Labour on May 1st 2008 with a majority of 13 before retaining the seat in 2012 with a majority of over 500. I retaining the seat again in 2016.
I live in the ward and I was born in Ipswich and both my parents (Annie and Peter Ross) were Labour councillors in Ipswich.
I went to Tower Ramparts School in the town (Yes, it was a school before it became a shopping centre!)
In 1978, I left Ipswich to join the army. I spent 24 years in the Royal Green Jackets, serving in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Kosova.
Since leaving the army in 2002, I have worked in a local school.
I spent 2009 back with the army, 7 months in Sangin, Afghanistan as Operations Warrant Officer with 2 Rifles.
I am the campaign organisor in Rushmere
Sport is my other great interest and I was one of the founding members of the Ipswich Town Independent Supporters Trust.